The Congress on Wednesday accused Gujarat Government of buying expensive power from Adani Power Limited while the State’s own electricity production plants were reportedly working at far below their capacity.
Responding to a series of questions from the Congress party on the floor of the State Assembly during the ongoing budget session, the State Government informed that it had signed a contract to purchase power from the Adani Group in the year 2006-2007 at a stipulated rate of Rs 2.89 per unit. But, the the Congress alleged that a “generous Gujarat government paid the Adani group Rs 3.52 per unit from October 15, 2018 to December 31, 2020.”
The government revealed that it purchased 22,495 million units power from Adani Group between October 15, 2018, and December 31, 2020, and paid a total of Rs 8,916 crore out of which Rs 6,333 crore were paid as a variable cost. The Congress party countered this, asking why the State Government was using “honest taxpayers’ money for buying power at a higher cost.”
Asked by the Congress party about the “under-utilisation” of State-owned power plants, the minister replied that the government had used 14.41% to 65.25% capacity out of its 10 power plants in 2020, while the numbers were 3.01 to 70.7% in 2021.
The Congress has accused the government of favouring the big corporates like Tata, Adani and Essar by not utilizing the State Government’s resources to their full capacity. The opposition party also accused the state government of diverting public funds to help big business houses.
